Virtual Norms To Live By Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Virtual Norms To Live By - Case Study Example The virtual world makes it possible to interact with each other without being physically present. The availability of email, chat rooms, video conferencing, texting and calling on mobile and landline phones makes virtual collaboration more convenient. As it is with groups working face-to face, virtual teams also need norms to live by. Karten (2003) explains that team norms should be formed in order for team members to be guided accordingly as to how they interact, communicate and conduct themselves as members of the team. It follows that such norms should be agreed upon and clearly understood and interpreted by all the members of the group. Norms are not really set in stone. Should some norms prove to be ineffective or unsuitable already to the group, then they may be amended. I have enumerated ten norms that I believe will work with virtual teams and help them work together better. Communication Norms 1. Be open to each other’s ideas. Give each other the chance to communicate them and listen well without judgment. Objectively listening to other people’s ideas can actually be an enriching experience. Richmond & McCroskey (2005) defines organizational communication as â€Å"the process by which individuals stimulate meaning in the minds of other individuals by means of verbal or nonverbal messages in the context of a formal organization.† (P. 20). ... When one sends a message to another team member, it may be possible that the recipient is not online to receive the message at that particular moment, so the sender needs to give allowance of time before his message is received and acknowledged. It must be considered that members are not online on a round-the-clock basis and is also living a life offline that is has no relation to the project. This should be clearly understood so that disappointments are avoided. If there is an urgent message to be expected, one should be informed by mobile phone right away so he can check his email. 3. Acknowledge receipt of messages. In relation to the previous communication norm, it is but polite to acknowledge the receipt of a message so that the sender is aware. If there is a question in the message, it needs to be answered by the recipient as soon as he can so there is less time wasted on waiting. 4. Ask questions if things are not clear. This is a very basic practice. Members should not be int imidated to ask questions because it is crucial that they are clear on what they should do. If one is unsure of what to do and just goes by what he just feels is right without clarifying with the others, he might end up doing it wrong, hence, repeating the whole process. Asking questions and getting the right answers for it saves the team a lot of time and effort. 5. Always be motivating to others. Members of a team should be constantly motivated and encouraged to go on with the tasks in order to achieve the set goals. Motivation may come in many forms - intrinsic motivation or the inner drive to learn which leads to personal fulfillment; extrinsic motivation, which consists of rewards or a prize for

McDonalds Video Advertisement Essay Example for Free

McDonalds Video Advertisement Essay This paper analyzes the rhetorical features of one particular video advertisement (2010 see Reference list for details) that was issued on the internet by the multinational burger company McDonalds. It now circulates on the internet with and without the English subtitles. The subtitled text of the advert is a very brief nine lines long, followed by the single tag line â€Å"Come as You are† and the full text is given below at Appendix 1. Hill and Helmers (2008, pp. 51-53) describe how a video uses a particular type of persuasion called â€Å"visual argument† which is rhetorical rather than logical or dialectical. The medium is very compressed and this does not allow full exposition of claim, argument, rebuttal, etc but on the other hand the visual aspect lends a sense of immediacy which written text does not have. They warn, however, that the apparent advantage of seeing rather than reading is partly illusory, since the images presented are highly structured and filtered so as to present a particular viewpoint. In their terminology the McDonalds advert would fall into the category of â€Å"didactic narrative†. The target market for McDonalds products is generally young families and teenagers. The opening shots set a scene which is familiar to this group: a busy and noisy McDonalds restaurant with many smiling faces. A father waits to be served while a son sits at a formica table and talks on his mobile telephone while looking at a photograph. Across the world, in France as well as in other countries, this is a regular occurrence and will resonate with both older and younger viewers who see themselves in the father or son role. The dresscode in the video is casual and â€Å"cool† as evidenced by the beanie hat worn by a customer, and the hoodie worn by the boy who talks. This is typical of styles popular with young urban males. At first it looks like a mainstream father and son, where the son talks to someone romantically on his cellphone. The person on the other end of the telephone is neither seen nor heard and one just assumes out of habit that this person is female. Lines 1-4 are spoken by the boy. The father arrives and lines 5-9 are spoken by the father. As the father quizzes the boy and makes a comparison with himself, the facial expression of the boy makes it clear that the father is not aware of a crucial difference between them: the boy is gay. The Tag line which is presented on a plain screen at the end just before the McDonalds logo â€Å"Come as you are† tacitly acknowledges that people are different, and extends a welcome to all kinds of people. It does not matter whether they are older or younger, gay or straight, they should still come to McDonalds and eat together. The claim, or main issue which the video presents is that diversity is a good thing, and people should be welcome regardless of their sexual orientation. There is no explicit verbal argument to back this up, but the story presents the gay son in a favourable light. This is done by camera angles that focus on his face, and the choice of an attractive young French male actor dressed in pretty average teenage clothes. This is by no means extreme gay activism with stereotypical gay wardrobe, mannerisms and speaking style but a subtle depiction of a situation that a pretty average young gay man is likely to encounter. It all looks and is intended to look â€Å"normal†. The video is youth-focused, because it lets the audience see things from the boy’s perspective, while making it obvious that the father does not appreciate the insider information which audience and boy share. The father represents the traditional French male role model of an experienced older man who is successful with women. The son represents a more up to date role model of a gay French man. An interesting aspect of the video is that there are a number of appeals going on at the same time in different directions. On the one hand there is a main message conveyed by pathos, which shows the young boy’s romantic feelings towards his boyfriend, and his wry acceptance of his father’s old fashioned and rather macho attitudes. On the other hand there is some authority and believability in the role of the father who pays for the meal and takes a positive and fatherly interest in his son. The son is inward looking and reflective, using the personal pronoun â€Å"I† to reveal his feelings, while the father uses the pronoun â€Å"you† more often and directs his feelings outwards. The father cites the evidence of his own experience to offer an example for the boy to follow in his footsteps. McDonalds will be well aware that parents and teenage children, and the sometimes complex and difficult relationship between them is absolutely the territory in which they operate their business. They provide a framework, something like a neutral territory, in which this generational conflict can be worked through, via the activity of buying and eating fast food. In making the gay-friendly message implicit, rather than explicit, McDonalds avoids the possible outcome of presenting a crass or sensationalist message. The way gaps in the narrative are left for the viewer to supply is also very clever, because it flatters the audience and forces them to get involved in constructing the meaning of the advertisement. Ambiguity used in this way is a very powerful rhetorical technique. There is still, of course, the possibility that some viewers will react negatively to the overturning of the traditionally dominant heterosexual point of view. Some viewers will resist the gay-friendly message that is being constructed but this, too, is part of the writer’s intention. Advertisers often court controversy as a means to extend the impact of their message and this is a prime example of that. If some viewers react with an indignant and anti-gay blog post or a you tube video or text response then this in turn provokes pro-gay and pro-McDonald posts from the viewers. The message is then guaranteed durability and a wider circulation. In purely technical production terms this video is a model of economy and precision. There are only two speakers, and each takes only one conversation turn. The product is never mentioned, and the instant recognizability factor with this brand makes this irrelevant in any case. Just in case there is any doubt in the viewer’s mind, however, the logo is added at the end. The colors are muted, and the mood is a gentle family intimacy with some tension caused by the unspoken facts which change the surface meaning of the discourse. Deep meaning is conveyed in shots of the changing expressions on the son’s face, and these meanings are obliquely referred to in the tag line â€Å"Come as you are†. This phrase is used in standard English to mean something like â€Å"don’t dress up specially – there is no need to be formal† and the McDonalds ad suggests an extension of this to mean something like â€Å"you don’t need to pretend you are straight, just be yourself† for a young and gay friendly audience, or â€Å"you don’t need to worry if your son is gay, just come and eat with him as normal† for an older audience who may be less open towards a gay message. The advert makes a plea for tolerance, not for any particular orientation. All of the components of the advert, even including the brief snippet of song saying â€Å"I’m going on my way† at the end, support these same messages and the images work, because they rest on a long McDonalds formula of adverts showing intimate conversations in busy restaurant scenes, but incorporate this new â€Å"diversity† based angle in a positive, friendly and contemporary way. Appendix 1. 1. Boy: Hello? 2. Boy: I was thinking about you too. 3. Boy: I miss you too. 4. Boy: My dad’s coming, I have to hang up. 5. Father: Is this your class picture? 6. Father: You look just like me at your age/ 7. Father: Let me tell you I was quite the ladies’ man! 8. Father: Too bad your class is all boys†¦ 9. Father: You could get all the girls. (Song in the background) 10. Tag line replaces the pictures : Come as you are. Hill, Charles A. and Helmers, Marguerite (2008) Defining Visual Rhetorics. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Lunsford, Andrea A. , Ruskiewicz, John J. , Walters, Keith. (2009) Everything’s an Argument. Boston: Bedford books. McDonald’s video advert â€Å"Come as You Are†, (2010) in French with English subtitles. Available online at: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=xk8xyONKK_4feature=related

Reflective Essay on Leadership | Critical reflection

Reflective Essay on Leadership | Critical reflection This report will discuss the importance of leadership in an organization. To achieve an objective, an organization will rely on individuals it employed. These individuals will then have to collaborate with each other in order to perform a task. However, there is a need for those involved to be directed and motivated to perform this task. The directing and motivating of the personnel is being done by an individual or a leader. The leader is important as they will ensure that the objective or goals of the organization can be achieved within the scope and time limit. The leader must be able to influence and motivate the people around him. This report will briefly explain some model or theories that leader can use to achieve the task. The first section of this report will discuss on the literature review about the leadership and team work. I will discuss various research articles in relation to leadership, management strategies and team work theory. Although there are numerous organizational behaviour based articles available, my literature review will focus on the following five areas which are Lewins Leadership Styles, Blanchards Situational Leadership Model, Transformational Leadership, Thamhains Nine Ways to Influence on Projects and Tuckmans Model to Team Development. I will also include some additional related published materials which will help me to fully understand the whole concept of leadership and team work strategies. Based upon the theories implied within the literature review, I will discuss the type of leadership my peer possesses. In this section I will discuss the leadership and management style that my peer used in order for us to complete the task. The discussion will also take into consideration on how my peer influences, and the method used to motivates the other team member. I will also discuss the positive and negative side of his leadership style and some recommendation based upon the leadership theories presented in the literature review. In the next section, I will reflect upon my whole team performance based upon the literature review. The process will take into consideration on how the Tuckmans Group Development Model is used to explain the development of my work group. I will also discuss the importance of having an effective team and how our project team can be identified as an effective team. In the last section, I will conclude my report based on my personal observation and findings on the whole leadership and team work process. The opportunity to work together as a team for 12 weeks has also broadened my perspective on leadership and on the importance of having an effective team. Literature Review Good leadership is essential for businesses, groups and organizations to succeed in achieving their goals. Nelson and Quick (2006) defines leadership as the process of guiding and directing the behaviour of people in the work environment. Leaders can influence others through their ability to motivate, inform, inspire and communicate effectively. There are a number of different leadership styles and strategies that can be used to accomplish their organizations goals and objectives. Each style or strategy of leadership can be used depending on the situation or organization. This section will discuss on literature review based upon Leadership Theories. The literature review is based upon the articles provided by the unit instructor, printed materials, electronic databases and search engines such as Google Scholar. Leadership Styles Theory The earliest researches on leadership style were conducted by Kurt Lewin who identified three basic styles of leaders that are autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire (Nelson Quick, 2006). These three basic styles of leadership can be use on a team and it may be changed accordingly based upon the situation. The autocratic leader usually rules based upon strong discipline and controlling in nature. This type of leader will usually dominate the group and is suitable if the group is newly formed and still lack of direction. The democratic leader on the other hand is more responsive, and takes into consideration the ideas from their subordinate. A democratic leader will encourage members within the group to actively participate in giving out ideas and helps in setting the direction of the group. This type of leadership is helpful in creating strong relationship between all members. The laissez-faire style leader usually did not implement authority and responsibility and let the subordi nate do all the things. This type of leadership is useful especially when all the team members are highly skilled and fully understands their objective. Leadership Strategies Theory Leadership Strategies is about how the leader can influence the performance of the group. One of the approaches suggested in this unit is to use the Situational Leadership Model developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard. This model can be adjusted or changed as the project progress. This model is done by matching the leadership style to match the readiness of the group members based upon two characteristic of the leader, which are task behaviour and relationship behaviour (DuBrin, Dalglish, Miller, 2006). In the task behaviour, the leader will spell out the duties of each individual or group. However, in the relationship behaviour the leader will engage in personal communication which includes listening, encouraging and coaching. This results in four styles which are identified as Telling, Selling, Participating and Delegating. A leader should use the telling style where the follower is unable and not willing to do the task. This includes providing direct instruction while closely monitoring the individual or group. When a follower is unable but willing to do a task, the leader can use the selling style where he/she will explain decisions and provides opportunity for the follower to seek clarification. In the participating leadership style, the leader involves the group in the decision making process. The delegating style is where the leader delegates responsibility to the group and is informed of the progress. However, based upon numerous researches done on Situational Leadership Model, it does not really work in reality (Graeff, 1997;Thompson Vecchio, 2009). The model which was first introduced in 1969 underwent a few changes in order to adapt to its critics. However, as Graeff (1997) discovered in his research, there are a few inconsistencies between the two version of the Situational Leadership Model which creates more confusion. Another group of researcher, Thompson and Vecchio (2009) conducted research by comparing the versions of Situational Leadership Theory plus an additional version. It was found that based upon the feedback, this model is applicable only to certain type of employees. In comparing the multiple version of the model, they also discovered that the revised version was a poorer predictor of subordinate performance and attitude than the original version. In summary, they recommend that Situational Leadership Model be taught as a starting point in discussing the interac tion between the leader and the follower. Liz Lee-Kelley (2002) discuss in her published article about the situational approach which is not in direct relation to the Situational Leadership Model. In the article she discusses about the possibility for a leader to change style to manage based upon the situation. Lee-Kelly suggested that from the evidence, there is no single style that is right for every manager under all circumstances. The study also confirms that a managers ability to control and influence the team or situation have impacts on his management style. Research in leadership field is ongoing as it is an important aspect of the organizational behaviour. Two types of leadership style which was recently introduced are the transactional and transformational leadership style. Transactional leadership is characterized by leaders and followers being in exchange relationship (DuBrin, Dalglish, Miller, 2006). This type of leadership relies on rewards and punishment to deal with followers. Meanwhile, the transformational leaders rely more on their personal attributes to inspire and excite followers to high level of performance (Nelson Quick, 2006). Bass (2010) encouraged organizations to train their leaders to be a transformational leader as it will greatly impact the motivation and work ethic of the employees around them. By having the transformational leaders within their organization, it will boost up their corporate image not only internally but publicly as well. This leader will attract more intelligent prospects to join the organization which in turns increase the value of the organization. Management Strategies Theory Employees have choice in their work life, if they dont like the job, they can leave or switch department. In order to be successful, organization must be able to retain the people to do the job, as training new people will consume more time and other related resources. As pointed by Schwalbe (2007), H.J. Thamhain and D.L. Wilemon conducted a research on the approaches a Project Manager use to deal with workers and identified nine influence bases available for them: Authority the legitimate hierarchical right to issue order Assignment the project managers perceived ability to influence a workers later work assignments Budget the project managers perceived ability to authorise others use of discretionary funds Promotion the ability to improve workers position Money the ability to increase a workers pay and benefits Penalty the project managers perceived ability to dispense or cause punishment Work challenge the ability to assign work that capitalizes on a workers enjoyment of doing particular task, which taps an intrinsic motivational factor Expertise the project managers perceived special knowledge that others deem important Friendship the ability to establish friendly personal relationship between the project manager and others. It is also found out that project are likely to fail if the project managers relied too heavily on using authority, money or penalty to influence people (Schwalbe, 2007). However, if the managers use work challenge and their expertise to influence the people, the project were more likely to succeed. Art Pretty (2009) in his e-book writes about why a Project Manager needs to develop their leadership skills in order to succeed. Leadership according to him is learned through practise and a leader must not be afraid to try it in their work environment. Pretty also touches on the term of culture sensing where the project manager must be able to quickly understand the how things happen or work within an organization. His e-book also highlights the importance of communicating effectively up and down the organizational ladder. This will help a Project Manager to successfully and effectively manage the whole project. A project manager whom possesses leadership qualities will drive the project towards success is also emphasized in the article written by Ruffin Veal III (2004). Veal addresses four project management processes that can be used to promote success. The processes are creating an agenda, developing a team, execution of the agenda and evaluation of the outcome. He also clearly outlined the differences in terms of responsibility, function and activity between the management and leadership for each processes. This guidelines will definitely helps an individual appointed as the project manager to evaluate his/her own capability. Team Work Theory To achieve success within an organization, each individual must work as a team. By establishing an effective team, work can be done faster and with higher quality. A work team is identified by Hayward (1998) as a group of people who have responsibility for completing a task or project, or reaching a particular goal. Bruce Tuckman in 1965 introduced a four stage model of team development which is forming, storming, norming, and performing. In the forming stage, members get to know each other and start to learn to work together. In the storming stage, there will be differences and conflicts reappear. The team will focus on managing the conflict in the norming period. The group will work together to accomplish the goals during the performing stage (DuBrin, Dalglish, Miller, 2006). Based upon this four-stage model, various researches were undertaken and most of it confirms the model. Later, in 1977, the model was modified to include an additional stage which is called adjourning (Tuckman Jensen, 1977). In this adjourning stage, the group which was created through the initial four stage model is dissolved. Tudor Rickards and Susan Moger (2000) suggest that in terms of creating an innovative product or solution, the Tuckman model had no way of explaining what is regarded as outstanding creative performance. What is lack is the Creative Leadership which will enhance the team capabilities. Parker (2008) suggests that there are four team player styles that are critical to the success of any team which are the contributors, collaborators, communicators and challengers. He also described in detail the 12 characteristics of an effective team and how each characteristic has been impacted by the changing team landscape. Characteristics of an Effective Team as described by Parker are: 1. Clear Purpose The vision, mission, goal or task of the team has been defined and is now accepted by everyone. There is an action plan. 2. Informality The climate tends to be informal, comfortable, and relaxed. There are no obvious tensions or signs of boredom. 3. Participation There is much discussion and everyone is encouraged to participate. 4. Listening The members use effective listening techniques such as questioning, paraphrasing, and summarizing to get out ideas. 5. Civilized Disagreement There is disagreement, but the team is comfortable with this and shows no signs of avoiding, smoothing over, or suppressing conflict. 6. Consensus Decisions For important decisions, the goal is substantial but not necessarily unanimous agreement through open discussion of everyones ideas, avoidance of formal voting, or easy compromises. 7. Open Communication Team members feel free to express their feelings on the tasks as well as on the groups operation. There are few hidden agendas. Communication takes place outside of meetings. 8. Clear Roles and Work Assignments There are clear expectations about the roles played by each team member. When action is taken, clear assignments are made, accepted, and carried out. Work is fairly distributed among team members. 9. Shared Leadership While the team has a formal leader, leadership functions shift from time to time depending upon the circumstances, the needs of the group, and the skills of the members. The formal leader models the appropriate behaviour and helps establish positive norms. 10. External Relations The team spends time developing key outside relationships, mobilizing resources, and building credibility with important players in other parts of the organization. 11. Style Diversity The team has a broad spectrum of team-player types including members who emphasize attention to task, goal setting, focus on process, and questions about how the team is functioning. 12. Self-Assessment Periodically, the team stops to examine how well it is functioning and what may be interfering with its effectiveness. Reflection on my peers Leadership First of all it is hard to choose who in our group should be elected as the project manager. It is hard to make the appointment as all of us did not know each other well. However, in order to complete our task, we have to work as a team and therefore we must have someone to lead us. From my view point, a leader should be the one who must have trust and respect from the other group members. Based upon the Belbins Personality assessment conducted within the tutorial, we have agreed to elect the person who is categorized as a Coordinator to be the leader. We strongly believe that the leader should be a well organized person and is trustful. As per described in by Belbins personality test, our group leader performs well in managing all the group activities and keeping track of all our documentation. He introduces www.zoho.com which is a website where we were able to collaborate and upload all our resources. He organizes the folder so that all the related materials are kept organized. All the documents edited or modified have to be versioned correctly so as to ensure that no one reads or retrieved the out dated ones. He encourages us to have our discussion via a web forum and thus reducing the need to make a phone call to each team members. This is being done to ensure that we are able to trace back whatever points that have been discussed prior to submitting the final product. From my view, he is also very much influential in terms of motivating us to furnish the best ideas. We are able to come out with good ideas and suggestions with his direction. As our project manager has experience in broadcasting, he is able to share his knowledge on how things are done. His ability to communicate effectively in terms of the overall project requirement makes each and every team member understands what is expected out of them. From my observation, our Project Manager employed a democratic leadership style where hes the one who set the overall direction of our team. He also encourages us to participate actively in all the decision where we all have to vote for the best available option. Although the decision is group-based, he still has the full authority to have the final say. I really think this is good in our team as we are all able to raise our ideas and concerns. However, as everyone tend to speak out their ideas, not all ideas are work related and thus we waste much of our time arguing irrelevant ideas. This is I think the areas he lacks, controlling the individuals within the group. I would say that he sometimes have to assert his authority especially when things are out of control. In terms of the completing the task, the project manager have outlined or broken up the tasks into several sections. This is done prior to the team meetings. Initially, he would ask each individual to which task they are comfortable to work with. This is to ensure that each team members knows their responsibility and thus can concentrate to the task at hand. Apart from dividing the task, each individual member is also assigned additional task which to check on another team members outcome. The evaluation or corrective task was delegated based upon the ability of the individual to read and write well in English. The project manager will then be the last person who will consolidate and check the overall output. Each task was also provided with separate timelines. The project manager put a very high priority on meeting the deadline set. If an individual is unable to meet the deadline, he will personally look into the individuals assigned task and provides some solution on how to tackle the issue. This would in turn makes the individual somewhat felt embarrassed of his inability to meet the deadline and thus ensure that he/she wont be making the same mistake again. During our group meeting, I also noticed that our Project Managers leadership style or strategy changed from time to time. In the first few weeks, our Project Manager adopts a style where he is the one who have total control of all documentation, set the direction of the team and closely monitors our progress. This is somewhat in relation to the telling style as mentioned in the Situational Leadership Model by Hersy and Blanchard. At a later stage, the team leader use the selling style when each of us is individually assigned a task with the knowledge that we can have him clarified on how to do the task. At one stage, the project manager acts as the facilitator when every team members presented their ideas which are similar to the participating style suggested by the model. During the last stage, as each team members already knows what they are supposed to do, our Project Managers leadership style changes to the delegating style. By employing this style, each team member is able to p ropose their own ideas and at the end all present it to the team. By doing this, each member feels that they are fully responsible of their own work and in turn makes them feel important to the team. Reflection on my Project Teams Performance In this section, I will discuss on the reflection of the teams performance. In our initial meeting, we simply try to get to know each other and try to bond. Based upon the Tuckmans Group Development Model, this phase is called forming. During this stage, everybody seems to carefully choose their words and try not to offend each other. Questions are asked based upon individuals experience especially in relation to their studies. There are also questions based upon the requirement of the project and what each members can contribute. Once we got to know each other, we progress to the second phase in what is called the storming. Based upon the Tuckmans model, this stage is when conflict emerges especially in the issue of who is to become the leader or project manager. However, as we are all able to think collectively and openly plus with the help from the tutor, we were able to stick as a team. During this stage, we are still unable to agree upon the meeting schedule as every team member is busy at work during the day. As the day progress, we arrived to the next stage which is the norming stage where we were able to set the direction of the project team. We were able to understand each individual strength and weakness and try to work around it in order to achieve our goal. During this stage, we are more open to each other and argument is made for the sake of the project. Once the overall team structure was set and agreed upon, we are able to think collectively and the group is ready and motivated to works towards the objective. This stage is described by Tuckman as the performing stage. Based upon our initial group meeting, we have agreed that we will spend most of our time discussing issues on the forum, email or website. The meeting which was set up to be about two hours every Monday and the agenda will focus more on issues that cannot be resolved online. After about 12 weeks working with the team, I can conclude that my team is an effective team based upon the 12 characteristic of an effective team specified by Parker (2008). We all have the clear purpose of the vision, goals and each individual understands and was able to finish their assigned task. Our meeting are conducted in an informal way where the environment is comfortable and relaxing. We were all able to listen, understand and argue each others ideas and if there was disagreement, we try to resolve it by compromising. Most importantly, every decision made was by a consensus decision. The way our group work was that each individual was assigned a task and required to upload the write up on the collaborative website. Once it is uploaded, each team member is required to check the other team members submission and write a comment on the forum. By providing the feedback online, it will help the team member to reply to the feedback at any time convenient for him/her. Another major advantage on posting the feedback on the forum was that each individual will have the time to really read and understand the posting. This will also help in gathering everyone opinion towards one particular issue where everyone had the opportunity to post a reply. By providing positive feedback toward each others work, it will reduce the conflict and create a more openness for the group. In our group, we also have a diverse team player type which helps in getting the work done in time and of high quality. The diversity is required as it will produce a check and balance to each and every task performed by members. Questions will be asked if the submission is unclear or does not relate to the main task. The fact that each individual team members work really hard to finish their task on time made the management of this group fairly easy. Each individual are prepared to help each other in trying to finish the project early before time. Some team members were also helpful in finding out resources although it was not within his/her job scope. Based upon the action described above, we were able to finish the project on time. Although the draft version of the whole document was prepared a few weeks earlier, we were still not able to finalize it a few days before date of submission. This was due to the fact that we have to ensure that each individual write up is free from spelling and grammatical error. The reason was that our entire team member comes from Asian countries where English is our second language. We also have problem where the team member could not communicate well in English and it takes us a while to understand what they are trying to say. However, this does not hamper them from providing the best solution and with the other members help, they were able to communicate is clearly. Another negative side of this team work is that we had to wait for reply as most of team member were busy with work during the day. It also frustrates the individual who posted his/her work earlier and have to wait for feedback. However, as the time progress, some team members especially the project manager was able to influence the whole team member to finish the job within the time frame with his excellent work ethic. Conclusion Today, in most organizations, team are set up to work together to identify and discuss solution to completing a task or project. Everyone in the team need support and direction from time to time. It is up to the project manager to lead the team. Ones leadership style and personality will affect the outcome of the team. Leadership style can be changed according to the status or situation of the team. In the beginning, the leader has to be somewhat autocratic as he has to set the teams direction and ensure that each individual within the team knows the objective. Once the team have bond together, the leader should be more diplomatic and let all team members participate in the decision making. This is to ensure that each team member contributes and feel that they are a valuable asset to the team. The leader must be able to influence and encourage the team member to think out of the box. The leader in our group applied some of the leadership style based upon the style mentioned in the literature review section. There are changes in his leadership style based upon the situation. At times he uses the autocratic style especially when the group is somewhat disorganized in the beginning. Later, when all team member starts to build trust with each other, he adopted the democratic style where all of us get to discuss on how to complete our task. It is also important to note that personality of the leader also plays an important factor to the success of the team. Our leaders ability to organize the work really helps in supporting the team. His work ethic encourages each member to emulate this and in turn promotes them to work effectively. The leader also encourages us to make full use of the technology available on the Internet. He introduces us to the collaborative website where each member is able find and share resources easily. For an effective team, every team member must have clear direction about the objective of the team. The teams structure and communication setup will effect on the way members interact with each other. The most important aspect in having the team to work together is open communication and trust. Each team members must be able to participate freely in the decision making process. Although individually, each member has their own set of strength and weakness, the team must be able to use that to their advantage. In working together, each individual member should have the chance to choose which task suits them as this will contribute to the projects success. Although there are conflicts during the decision making process, it can easily overcome as the team member discuss it openly. The leader also has the role in resolving this conflict by taking authority over the issue. In our working team, I found that we are able to work as a team as there is trust and open communication between the five of us. We are able to discuss openly and informally on any issues in relating to the task. Each individual is assigned an appropriate work load and managed to deliver their task on time. Initially the task is not at the highest quality with lots of spelling and grammatical error, however the team work together to solve it. By using Skype, the team was able to communicate even late at night to get the work done. It is great to see that each individual was willing to work together via the Internet. As a conclusion, leader plays an important factor that can influence and motivate a group in achieving its goals. A great leader should be able to change his leadership style based upon the situation or organization. However, having a good leader does not necessarily translate to an effective team. For a team to be able to work effectively, it must have a clear vision of its goals or objectives. Team members must be able to communicate effectively and openly with each other. Based upon my 12 week experience working together as a team, I can say that I have good leader within my team. With this team, we are able to effectively achieve our task. Barclays Bank: PEST, SWOT and Five Forces Analysis Barclays Bank: PEST, SWOT and Five Forces Analysis Jump to: Barclays Bank PEST Analysis | Barclays Bank SWOT Analysis | Barclays Bank Porters Five Forces Barclays bank is providing its services in India in some their selected business divisions. Barclays bank now wants to expand its services in India with other corporate units. This report is a helping tool for their expansion as it provides basic information needed for this expansion. External Environment Analysis by the help of PEST, SWOT and Porters five forces provides essential information for the management of Barclays bank while making and implementing business strategies with more knowledge, authority and control. Task 1: Business Structure of Barclays Bank: Barclays is one of the leading British based multinational banks having branches in 5 different continents across the world. Barclays bank has strong position due to its asset estimation of more than 2.3 US dollars. Banking structure of Barclays is divided into Personal and corporate banking, Investment banking, Investment management and the unit of credit cards. The main headquarter of Barclays is located at London and the customers base of Barclays bank is more than 48 million in different continents including Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America. The basic structure of Barclays is divided into two clusters: 1. Corporate and investment banking plus Wealth and investment management. 2. Retail and Business Banking The further business units division is already explained. Barclays bank also plays part in providing consultancy services for people in operating their small scale business. The unit of personal banking provides its services to manage the investment of small scale businesses. The security and easy access ability level for borrowing purposes makes Barclays one of the standard financial service sectors. The business unit provides consultancy for personal banking borrowing. They provide innovation to start different small level businesses and provide attractive financial services and opportunities for personal loans. Corporate banking is one of the profitable units of business unit of Barclays as it has more than 50,000 customers in five different continents. Risk management unit is also important to provide advisory for businesses which have potential to invest and get profit and also provide opportunities for investment. Wealth and Investment management unit works in more than 20 countries to provide its services. The basic functions of this unit are international and private banking services, investment management services, fiduciary services and brokerage services. Business structure of Barclays bank allows world class banking solutions for corporate customers as well as personal banking clients. Using up to date technology in term of online banking solutions and mobility services provide an edge on competitors due to the latest procedures used in these services. Barclays rely on its global relationship approach. Different relationships teams work across the world to add value to the business of corporate and personal clients. Impact of Market Structure The basic purpose of Barclays is to increase its business in term of customers and profit, looking for potential customers all around the world, looking for growing economies and to expand in such economies to fulfill its vision of growth. Barclays bank is working in India for more than three decades. Investment banking division was the initial business of Barclays banking in India. Now Barclays bank is providing its corporate and personal banking services in India. This technique of using selected divisions is because of the market structure of India which is different as compared to Europe, Africa or America. People hesitate to deposit in banks and also there was less focus on borrowing from banks. The trend is changing due to awareness and availability of latest technology. The businesses of selected divisions in India shows that market structure have impacts while working in international economy. Changes in business structure while working internationally are basic requirements due to different values, structures and perceptions of the customers living in international market. Task 2: Causes of Globalization The change in the trends of international economy damaged the working of different organizations. The negative trend of economy of different European and American business environment allows organizations to look for new markets, customers and better economic regions. This is one of the biggest causes of globalization. The other cause is the advancement in technology and the availability of easy ways of doing business. People came to know about latest processes, new innovations in products and services, the differences in the quality of products and services and new ways of communicating. These cause international companies to expand their business across the borders to target the needs and wants of such customers. The concept of international free trade also caused globalization to take place due to the incentives associated with free trade. Availability of better suppliers in the international market causes organizations not to rely on domestic suppliers. Availability on quality su ppliers on competitive basis is a reason of globalization. Lower wages rates in other regions as compared to domestic labors in Europe and America encouraged organizations to expand their business in Asian countries which are less costly for infrastructure and low rate employees. All of the above mentioned reasons are primary causes for globalization. Advancement in technology, use of internet, emails, mobiles, and better traveling provided the basis for globalization to take place. The advancement in online technology provides basis for improved Management Information System to collect and analyze data all around the world to make investment decisions. Implications of Globalization Better business control through internet, mobiles and MIS provides comfort for organizations to handle business from anywhere in the world. This has made strategic decision making easy and fast as response from customers and management is speedy as compared to previous systems. The improvement in the living style and standard are implications of the availability of international standard products and services in those regions. People came to know about the variety and quality of products due to increased and reliable products and services as a result of international expansions. One can now see and buy products through online websites, emails and mobiles phones as these are easy and less costly way of communication now days. Now people have more choices in term of products, services and prices. One can compare product quality and prices by the help of internet and websites to buy more reliable products according to their budget. The other implications of globalizations are E-Commerce , better procedures, improved manufacturing techniques, computer simulations and low cost products and services due to availability of reliable suppliers and processes in region. World Trade Organization There are different causes and implications of globalizations but still there was a need of laws and procedures for globalization and international business. WTO is an international organization to provide standard rules and regulations for global businesses. Providing guidelines for business expansions in other countries by taking inputs from host and guest countries. Providing a list of social, legal and moral responsibilities to both parties for better business is one of the tasks of World Trade Organization. Different members across the world have provided their inputs and suggestions to generate standard laws for global businesses. Every organization and country has to wok according to these laws. Providing soft barriers for investment organizations and implementing the concept of free trade for global business are the major tasks of World Trade Organization. (THE ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESS EXECUTIVES, 2011) Task 3: PEST Analysis of Barclays External Environment Analysis of Barclays Bank Analysis of business environment through PEST analysis, SWOT analysis, Force Field Analysis and Porters Five Forces provides authentic and important information to decision making unit before formulating or implementation of business strategies. The macro and micro forces can impact the strategies of management due to their dynamic nature. External environment analysis is not a onetime process; it is a continuous process to make changes in strategies according to external environment. (T R JAIN, MUKESH TREHAN, RANJU TREHAN, 2009) PEST Analysis Analysis of Political, Economic, Social and Technological elements which can affect the strategies and decision made by management is done under PEST analysis. (P)olitical Analysis India is a country where people choose their members of parliament through elections in a fix time period. The member of parliament makes policies for foreign investors and multinational companies. There is no clue of intervention of any third power in the political system. Opposition provides suggestions for policies. So, there are fewer chances of changes in the policies for foreign investors which are a good thing for Barclays bank. (E)conomic Analysis One of the growing economies of the world with have emphasis on research is an attractive place for foreign investors to invest. The continuous growth in the GDP for the last 10 years provides opportunities for Barclays and other foreign companies to expand in India. (S)ocial Analysis One of the countries having high population and high growth rate of population in future provides opportunities for Barclays bank to have more targeted customers. Increase in literacy rate and awareness about latest and up to date services in region provides opportunities for Barclays bank to invest in India. (T)echnological Analysis Use of internet banking, mobile banking, ATM, credit cards, e-commerce and social media provides a lot of opportunities for Barclays bank to introduce their up to date and latest services in growing economy of India. Barclays can provide their services to improve banking operations in India which is the reason why India allowed Barclays operations three decades back. SWOT Analysis of Barclays Bank (BARCLAYS BANK PLC.)Using strengths of Barclays bank in term of latest technology and operations to get benefits of opportunities available in India in term of large term of customers and markets can be possible by having knowledge about these internal resources and external business environment. SWOT analysis provides this information. (S)trengths Global Leader in providing financial and investment services in five major continents. Strong brand name in corporate banking system having more than 50,000 corporate clients all over the world. High credibility in the growing market of Pakistan which is also based in Asia. Personal banking with no limit on minimum deposit provides an edge on majority of competitors. Focus on risk management. (W)eaknesses Need of bailout in UK due to economy crises in recent past. Bad impact on image due to government funding issue in Zimbabwe. Less innovation in marketing campaigns related to Indian culture. Barclays is working in India for a long time but they fail to adopt market orientation related to Indian culture (O)pportunities Past business experience of India provides an extra advantage to make an expansion decision. Growing banking sector of India, focus on corporate banking and increased personal funding due to reliability and credibility of Barclays bank. Investment opportunities in IPL and other Indian leagues due to corporate image of these leagues can provide global promotional opportunities for Barclays bank. India is a country with wide geographical area and second highest population. India can provide a lot of potential corporate and personal customers by making an expansion decision in other parts of India. (T)hreats Increase in interest rates has decreased the funding from personal banking sector. Government banks and investment policies provides more attraction for personal investors due to bigger output of these services. Domestic banks with cultural related strategies is a threat for Barclays More international banks are moving towards Indian market due to the availability of business and customers. It can increase the scale of competition in India. Porters Five Forces Entry Barriers The entrance of new multinational banks like HSBC and other are expanding their businesses in India due to soft barriers of entering and availability of customers. This situation can increase the competition scale and number of saturated markets in India. Rivalry with Industry Services provided by different local and international banks are of the same type. So, it is important to change interest rates and services charges to attract more customers as compared to other banks. The switching of financial services for customers to other banks is easy and not much costly so banks need to develop latest and up to date processes to facilitate customers. Threat of Substitutes Innovations in the products and services provided by banks, including car financing, house financing and education financing provides opportunities for bank to focus not only on traditional banking system. The local financing institutes with less interest rate for personal borrowing are also a threat for banks in India. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Reserve bank of India takes actions regarding monetary suppliers which impact the supply of money in the economy. Customers provide supplies in deposits for personal banking and majority of banks are offering same interest rates. So, there is a need of innovation in services to attract financial suppliers. Bargaining Power of Buyers Providing alternative services in term of finance for car, houses, education, businesses and consultancy can bring the bargaining power of customer low as all the banks are providing same type of services with same interest rates. (Barclays, 2008) Task 4: Business Objectives of Expansion Capturing the potential customers in other attractive regions in other cities Boosting the current market orientation of Barclays bank in India Increasing the number of divisions working in India to capture more opportunities Investment in Global promotional opportunities in tem of Indian Premium League and other Leagues which have global impacts Focusing on international revenue to carryout domestic and international operations. India can provide opportunities for larger scale of revenue due to its population and geographical area as compared to domestic branches in UK Providing E-Commerce services in India due to increased level of interest showed by Indian customers for online operations Capturing corporate customers of India as Barclays bank has strong base and experience of dealing with corporate customers. These customers can provide vast opportunities for revenue as compared to personal or investment banking. Having more than 50,000 corporate customers is good enough experience for Barclays to target corporate banking in India India is growing economy as compared to major European countries so it can provide more opportunities for business in India. There are number of corporate sectors in India and number of Billionaires businessmen who can provide a lot of opportunities for Barclays bank through their operations Resistance from Employees Making any change in the business structure or operations can help to bring employees out of the comfort zone. This is the reason why some of employees resist against any type of change in structure of operations. Making an expansion decision in Indian market means there will be a lot of changes to be made to formulate and implement strategies for new geographical areas and segments. Altering the operations of employees to take their assistance in expanding operations can bring resistance from employees. Providing them incentives associated with successful expansion of Barclays bank can help to bring down any resistance from employees. Expansion can bring a lot of opportunities for managerial positions in new branches. Good human resource management can communicate these opportunities with existing employees by giving them attractive growth and career paths for potential employees to bring down the level of resistance from employees. (T R JAIN, MUKESH TREHAN, RANJU TREHAN, 2009) Recommendations Focusing on promotional activities associated with global marketing can help Barclays in Indian and international market. Recent Olympics, Indian Premier League, Formula race and other global events in India can provide a lot of help for Barclays in their promotional activities if they use these events for marketing purposes. Proving online services in domestic languages can provide a differentiation edge and USP for Barclays to target more customers. Barclays should invest in social activities of education and green environment to build a better corporate social image in India Focusing on innovation in term of substitute products can help to bring more revenue and customers to Barclays bank.

Margaret Laurences A Bird in the House Essay -- Laurence A Bird in th

Margaret Laurence's A Bird in the House Margaret Laurence's A Bird in the House differentiates itself from the four other novels that make up the 'Manawaka series' that has helped establish her as an icon of Canadian literature. It does not present a single story; instead, it is a compilation of eight well-crafted short stories (written between the years 1962 and 1970) that intertwine and combine into a single narrative, working as a whole without losing the essential independence of the parts. It tells - at least on a surface level - of the childhood of a young girl named Vanessa MacLeod , and of her trials and tribulations in the small Manitoban town of Manawaka. The narrative style of the stories is important, since it is through Vanessa's own eyes that we learn of her family and life - yet the eyes belong to an older, wiser Vanessa, remembering her own childhood from a future point years later. Laurence handles the narrative style quite cleverly; the experiences of the child-Vanessa are portrayed with all the innocence and naà ¯vety and shock that first accompanied them, yet are also tainted and clarified by the wisdom of the older-Vanessa. "... the narrator [becomes] Vanessa, the woman, who takes on the voice and attributes of the child she was and, at the same time, remains her present self, far older and wiser in compassion and understanding."1 It is the perspective of the older and wiser Vanessa that allows the reader to pick up on the important ideas, images, and themes that the author is trying to convey to us. A Bird in the House is far more than semi-autobiographical, is far more than the simple story of a young girl growing up in the prairies during the great Depression: it is a work of... ...e. The tightness of Laurence's weaving is remarkable: the symbols, the characters, and the characters are drawn together into a cohesive whole. "... the characters reflect the book's central metaphor and are thus symbolically interconnected [...] the stories chart how they are all caught up in parallel captivities and engaged in divergent flights." (Davidson 99) They are, indeed, all drawn together by the bird in the house. Works Cited 1. qtd. in Davidson, Arnold E. "Cages and Escapes in Margaret Laurence's A Bird in the House." University of Windsor Review 16 (1981): 95. 2.Margaret Laurence, A Bird in the House (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Inc., 1970), 43. All further references are to this edition and are included in my text. 3. Jon Kertzer, "That House in Manawaka": Margaret Laurence's A Bird in the House (Toronto: ECW Press, 1992), 57.

Production of Acetone

5. 1 MANUFACTURING PROCESSES: Acetone is produced directly or indirectly by propylene. Early processes for the manufacture of acetone were based on the thermal decomposition of calcium acetate or the carbohydrate fermentation of corn starch or molasses. The ready availability of propylene in the 1960s led to routes based on the dehydrogenation of isopropyl alcohol or cumene peroxidation. (1) By Cumene Oxidation (Hock Process). Propene is added to benzene [71-43-2] to form cumene [98-82-8], which is then oxidized by air to cumene hydroperoxide, and cleaved in the presence of an acid catalyst like zeolite. Phenol [108-95-2] and acetone [67-64-1] produced in the process are recovered by distillation. Ratio of phenol to acetone is 1:0. 6. (2) By Dehydrogenation of 2-proponal The hydration of propene [115-07-1] gives 2-propanol [67-63-0], which is then dehydrogenated to acetone. In the United States a C3 stream containing 40 – 60 % propene is used for the manufacture of 2-propanol. A large number of catalysts for 2-propanol dehydrogenation have been studied, including copper, zinc, and lead metals, as well as metal oxides, e. g. , zinc oxide, copper oxide, chromium-activated copper oxide, manganese oxide, and magnesium oxide. Inert supports, such as pumice, may be used. CH3CH=CH2 CH3CH(OH)CH3 CH3COCH3 +H2 (3) By catalytic oxidation of Propene (Wacker-Hoechst). The process is analogous to the oxidation of ethylene to acetaldehyde by theWacker process. The catalyst solution typically contains 0. 045M Palladium (II) chloride, 1. 8M Copper (II) Chloride, and acetic acid. The reaction usually is carried out in two alternating stages. In the first stage, air is used to oxidize the metal ions to the +2 oxidation state. In the second, air is removed and propene added. Palladium (II) oxidizes propene, and the resulting Palladium (I) is reoxidized by the pool of copper (II). Besides propionaldehyde, chlorinated carbonyl compounds and carbon dioxide also are formed. Acetone and the byproducts are removed from the catalyst solution by flash evaporation with steam and separated by fractional distillation. A mixture of acetone (92 % selectivity) and propionaldehyde (2 – 4 % selectivity) is produced. CH3CH=CH2 + ? O2 CH3COCH3 + CH3CH2CHO (4) By oxidation of p-Disisopropyl Benzene (Goodyear Process). Acetone is coproduced with hydroquinone [123-31-9] from p-diisopropylbenzene [100-18-5] in a process analogous to the phenol – acetone production from cumene. In the Goodyear process p-diisopropylbenzene is oxidized by oxygen in the presence of caustic. The p-diisopropylbenzene dihydroperoxide [3159-98-6] formed is crystallized and washed with benzene. It is then dissolved in acetone and cleaved to hydroquinone and acetone in the presence of sulfuric acid. Next the acid is neutralized with ammonia and the ammonium sulfate formed is filtered. Acetone is recovered by distillation from the reaction mixture. 5) By distillation of Calcium Acetate. Manufacture of Acetone from Acetate of Lime, etc. – Acetone is produced commercially by the dry distillation of various acetates, calcium acetate (commercial grey acetate of lime) or barium acetate being generally used. The single acetate is usually employed, although mixtures of two acetates have been recommended. Grey calcium ace tate usually contains about 80 per cent calcium acetate, the remaining 20 per cent consisting of water and various impurities, including small quantities of calcium formate and propionate as well as salts of other organic acids. Calcium acetate when heated at a temperature of about 380Â ° C. decomposes, giving acetone and a residue of calcium carbonate, but at the same time the accompanying calcium salts present as impurities also react and acetaldehyde and various higher ketones are formed together with the condensation products. In addition other impurities (such as dumasin) and tar-like bodies are formed. Ca(CH? -COO)? CH? -CO-CH? + CaCO? (6) By fermentation of Corn Products by selected Bacteria. The process was started during World War II to provide acetone needed for the manufacture of cordite. The last operating plant in the United States (Publicker Industries) closed in 1977. The fermentation of cornmeal or molasses by various members of the Clostridium genus yields a mixture of 1-butanol, acetone, and ethanol in 2 % overall concentration. The products are recovered by steam distillation and then fractionated. 5. 2 SELECTION OF PROCESSES: Sr NoProcessesParameterCatalystAdvantages/ Disadvantages 1Cumene OxidationYield:- 40% Selectivity:- 90% 1)For Cumene hydroperoxide Temp:- 120 0C Pressure:- 1 atm 2) For acetone Temp:- 60-65 0CAcid catalyst like zeoliteAdvantage:- Valuable main product phenol Disadvantage: – ) Higher operating cost. 2) Acetone is as a byproduct. 2Dehydrogenation of 2-proponalYield:- 90% Selectivity:- 98% Temp:- 300-500 0C Pressure:- 3 atm Dehydrogenation Catalyst:- ZnO, CuAdvantages:- 1) The primary advantage of this process is that the acetone produced is free from trace aromatic compounds, particularly benzene. 2) Less operating cost 3) Valuable byproduct Hydrogen which is 99% pure. 4) High Yield 3Catalytic oxidation of PropeneYield:- 97-99% Selectivity:-92% Temp:- 140 0C Pressure:- 14 atmPalladium Chloride – Cupric ChlorideAdvantage:- 1) Single stage Disadvantages:- 1) High capital & operating cost. 2) Corrosion problem. 4Oxidation of p-Di-isopropyl BenzeneYield:- 20% Temp:- 80-90 0CSulfuric acidDisadvantage: – 1) Higher operating cost. 2) Acetone is as a byproduct. 3) Lower yield 5Distillation of Calcium AcetateYield:- 75% Temp:- 380 0C Disadvantage: – 1) Higher operating cost 2) Lower yield 6Fermentation processYield:- 28-30% Temp:- 35-450CClostridium Madisonii VacteriaDisadvantages: – 1) Lower yield. 2) Higher processing cost due to increase in price of petrochemical feedstock which is used for extracting the acetone. On the above discussion between various methods we are choosing the IPA route to produce Acetone. 5. 3 PROCESSES DESCRIPTION: The production of acetone is divided in two parts. 1)Production of IPA through Feed drum is a kind of tank used for the mixing of the recycle stream and feed stream. Recycle stream concentration was assumed to be same with the feed stream. The temperature of the feed stream is assumed to be 25 0C at 2 bar pressure, which is assumed to be constant. The temperature of recycle stream was calculated as 111. 5 0C. The temperature of the leaving stream was calculated as 32. 9 0C, by the energy balance around feed drum. In the vaporizer molten salt was used for heating. The temperature at the entrance of the unit is the temperature of the mixture leaving the feed drum, which is 32. 89 0C. And the leaving temperature is the bubble point temperature of the mixture, which is 109. 5 0C. The pressure is 2 bars, and assumed to be constant. Since the temperature leaving the vaporizer is not enough for the reaction a pre-heater was used. The unit is working at 2 bars, and assumed to be constant. The entrance and leaving temperatures are 109. 50 0C and 325 0C. The reactor was the starting point for the calculations. The temperature values for the entering and leaving streams were found from literature, which are 325 0C and 350 0C, respectively. The reaction taken place inside is endothermic, for this reason the reactor has to be heated. For heating, molten salt was used. The pressure is 1. 8 bar, and assumed to be constant. The entrance temperature of the cooler is 350 0C and leaving is 94. 70 0C. For cooling, water was used. Instead of water a refrigerant may be used. Better results may get. But since it costs too much, it wasn’t chosen as the cooling material. From the temperature values it’s easily seen that the load is on the cooler not on the condenser, for this process. But in reality the unit cannot cool that much, and the load is mostly on the condenser. In this process, the mixture cooled down to its dew point. The pressure is 1. 5 bar, and assumed to be constant. The temperature of the entering stream is the dew point and the leaving temperature is the bubble point of the mixture. In the condenser water was used as cooling material. In the calculation of the dew and bubble points Antoine Equation was used. Trial and error was used with the help of Excel. The mixture includes acetone, i-propyl-alcohol, water and hydrogen. But hydrogen was not taken into consideration in the calculations. Since the condensation temperature of hydrogen is very low, it is not condense in the condenser. It stays in this for this reasons it has no effect on bubble and dew point calculations. Also since it does not affect the temperature calculations it’s not taken into consideration on mole and mass fraction calculations. The leaving and entering temperatures are 94. 70 0C and 81 0C, respectively. The pressure is 1. 5 bar, and assumed to be constant. Flash unit was assumed to be isothermal, for this reason temperature was not changed. It is 81 0C in the entrance and exit. The pressure is 1. 5 bar, and assumed to be constant. By trial and error method, (V / F) value was found to be 0. 2. The entrance temperature of the unit is the bubble point of the mixture, but if it was its dew point the (V/F) value would be much higher. Scrubber was assumed to be adiabatic. The temperature of water entering the unit was assumed to be 25 0C. The temperature of the off gas, including hydrogen and a very little amount of acetone, was assumed to 70 0C. But this assumption is too high, a lower temperature should have been assumed, since a lot of water is used in the unit. It should have been around 40 0C – 50 0C. The temperature of the leaving stream was found to be 28. 10 0C. The pressure of the unit is 1.. 5 bar, and assumed to be constant. The streams leaving the scrubber and flash unit are mixed together before entering the acetone column. The temperature leaving the flash unit and scrubber are 81 0C and 28. 10 0C, respectively. The temperature of the mixture was found to be 45 0C. This result was getting by using energy balance around the mixing point. The acetone column is used to separate the acetone from the mixture. The entrance temperature is 45 0C. The leaving temperatures for the top and bottom product are 102. 3 and 105, respectively, which are the bubble and dew points. Top product of the unit includes acetone i-propyl-alcohol and 99wt% of the product is acetone. This amount is assumed to be the desired acetone production rate, which is 115000 ton/year. From the bottom i-propylalcohol water and a very little amount of, 0,1 %, acetone is discharged. The pressure is 1. 1 bar, and assumed to be constant. In the distillation column, i-propyl-alcohol and water are separated. The entrance temperature is 105 0C. The leaving temperatures of the top and bottom products are both 111. 50 0C. The top product is recycled to the feed drum. For this reason it’s assumed to have the same concentration with the feed stream. But in reality a very little amount of acetone exists in the stream. It’s calculated but neglected on the recycle stream calculations. The bottom product is assumed to be pure water and it’s thrown away. Since its temperature is very high it cannot be recycled to the scrubber. But if a cooler is used, a recycle can be used. The pressure is 1. 1 bar, and assumed to be constant.

Journal summary

Michele Semen's article was written as a useful means to give perspective to prospective and current teacher's information with regards to developing their own Pipes. The article is compromised primarily of past experiences from preservers teachers who wrote Pipes in their own undergraduate course and the challenges that they faced from their own inexperience's. The student's personal experiences enhance the readers understanding of the challenges in writing Pipes and techniques to simplify the process.Article Summary College student's experiences of writing individual experience programs are examined in this article by highlighting personal experiences of the students in an individual and group setting. Nineteen college level students that are in their junior year have been indoctrinated in a two year college teacher education program that was designed to not only show them previously designed Pipes but also instruct the in the art of designing their own program.The educational prog ram lasted over a period of two years and consisted of non graded activities, in class participation, personal reflections, and students writing their own personal Pipes. The two year course consisted of multiple PEP in class discussions and assignments that were intentionally unguarded. In the discussions, the dents discussed how to write various goals and objectives in developing personal Pipes. Multiple examples and case studies were utilized in developing their personal Pipes.The course also consisted of open ended questionnaires and evaluations in order to produce common trends and thoughts that students had in developing their programs. One major trend identified was that students recognized the importance of focusing on individualizing with respect to student's educational strengths and knowledge. Students recognized that for an PEP to function correctly, it must not be created in mineral terms but must be created to focus on the individual student.

Healing Hands Australian †Indigenous Health

Healing Hands Australian – Indigenous Health Free Online Research Papers The healing hands indigenous health rights campaign utilises the social planning approach. By using this approach, the campaign is delivered at a national level yet acknowledges that if changes with health care situations are to be made responsibility lies with commonwealth, state and territory governments. The campaign is designed to be a success because it is based on many facts and figures about indigenous health and the crisis it is in. the social planning position ensures there has been an assessment of community needs and problems – being the health crisis amongst indigenous Australians and applies a systematic planning of strategies for meeting the needs. This method is appropriate in that it emphasises on national and political procedures, for instance changes within government policies and funding. This ensures that the core aim of the campaign (that is, changing government policies/funding in concern to indigenous health) are not far fetched because of the level it is being applied. The expert knowledge involved in the campaign means that it is more likely the desired outcomes will be achieved. This approach ensures that the majority of the concern lies with delivering appr opriate services to the indigenous people so that their health improves. The campaign has changed behaviour in that it has raised community awareness about the indigenous health issue and how it is a matter of urgency – they did this through promoting and suggesting ways to show support – This approach is seen as the community education model. A mass of public debate derived from the campaign and the utilisation of the models. There were public debates evident in the media, with health professionals, among the indigenous community, non indigenous community and eminent Australians such as the governor and the president of the medical association. The campaign has been successful in that it has reached a vast audience and gained huge support from organisations such as government community services and individuals as well as prominent Australian figures. It has also been successful in that it had wide media coverage. Through researching the campaign, it was observable that due to the nature and complexity of government legislations and regulation, attempts to alter anything dramatically on a government level will be a slower process. However the campaign has achieved to make the issue a focal point amongst the media and public – therefore generating more reason for the issue to be a matter of urgency on the governments’ agenda. Research Papers on Healing Hands Australian - Indigenous HealthInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andHip-Hop is ArtMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductQuebec and CanadaPETSTEL analysis of IndiaAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Effects of Television Violence on ChildrenTwilight of the UAWThe Project Managment Office System

Case for locog workforce Diversity The WritePass Journal

Case for locog workforce Diversityï » ¿ Introduction Case for locog workforce Diversityï » ¿ London Olympic and Paralympic games. Benefits that could accrue from this diversity and implications have been outlined and include improvement in bottom line and workforce relations, resulting in enhanced efficiency, gains in competitive advantage and thus enhanced business performance which would enable LOCOG achieve its objectives and mandate. HR seeks to contribute to the realization of these benefits through deliberate training and development of diversity awareness and culture evaluation, as well as, focusing on workforce diversity in the recruitment and selection of staff. References Foot, M., Hook, C., 2008. Introducing Human Resource Management. 5th ed. Harlow  : Pearson Education Ltd. Mannix, E., Neale, M., 2005. â€Å"What Differences Make a Difference? The Promise and Reality of Diversity Teams in Organizations.† In: Psychological Science in the Public Interest. 6(2), 31-35. McCuiston, V., Ross, B., Pierce, C., 2004. â€Å"Leading the diverse workforce. Profit, prospects and progress.† In: The Leadership Organization Development Journal. 25(1), 73-92. Shen, J., et al., 2009. â€Å"Managing Diversity through human resource management: an international perspective and conceptual framework.† In: The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 20(2), 235-251. Syeda, J., Ãâ€"zbilginb, M., 2009. â€Å"A relational framework for international transfer of diversity Management practices.† In: The International Journal of Human Resource Management. Vol. 20, No. 12, 2435–2453.

Linguistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Linguistics - Essay Example Basically, ads in the newspapers are very concise and very informative. It is very important to enable people to read information quickly and correctly. Very often in printed media a strategy of noun-phrases ‘squeezing’ is used, for example: Larger- than- life comedienne Joe Brand (Saks, 2010). This strategy kills two birds with one stone: we save words and we also appeal for the readers attention from the very beginning of our story. In the story from a newspaper, it is possible to see the exact structure. There are the following main elements of the article/story in the newspaper: abstract-setting-complicating action-resolution-coda. Abstract of the story combines the headline and the lead sentence. We provided a piece of text from the newspaper in the Appendix I and it is evident that in the first paragraph attention of readers is grasped for sure. The author introduces a special quote, which proves that his further claims underline the importance of the story. Then the author introduces a subhead, which organizes the story. It is also evident that the author prognosticates further development of events and confirms its reliability. This newspaper article presents the authors different claims as he changes directs speech and indirect speech. Moreover, he introduces another subheading in the middle of the article: "Frozen in Time" and in such a way he attracts attention of the readers and reminds them about din osaurs that are the basic objects of the article. Both, the ideas of detective stories and glimpses of paleontology are combined. With this citation: "You take all these bits of evidence and reconstruct the past" the author draws parallels between the science of paleontology and gives some hints on a detective story. Of course, when we talk about language of media the first thing, which comes to our minds, are original headlines. Very often puns or alliteration are used there as attractors

Euthyphro Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Euthyphro - Essay Example Because their opinions about holiness are at odds, Socrates who is portrayed by Plato as a person who is eager to engage in discourse with the people on Athens asks Euthyphro what his concept of holiness is so he might learn from how Euthyphro defines it. Says Socrates, â€Å"Tell me then, what is the pious, and what the impious, do you say?† (5e) Initially, this is how the concept of holiness emerges in the dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro and it soon takes a prominent position in the dialogue as it becomes the main topic of their conversation as they wait to be shown into court for their respective cases. In response to Socrates’ question, Euthyphro provides him with three basic definitions by which he thinks holiness is defined. Every time Euthyphro gives Socrates a definition for the concept of holiness, Socrates gives him an argument to refute it and thus Euthyphro is forced to provide another definition. Finally, when Euthyphro gives the third definition an d Socrates refutes it, Euthyphro storms off annoyed with Socrates for disagreeing with all his attempts to define what is holy. First, he says â€Å"I say that the pious is to do what I am doing now, to prosecute the wrongdoer, be it about murder or temple robbery or anything else, whether the wrongdoer is your father or your mother or anyone else; not to prosecute is impious.† (5e) Thus holiness is defined by prosecuting those people who are blasphemous and go against religion. Second, he says â€Å"Well then, what is dear to the gods is pious, what is not is impious† (7) Thus, holiness is defined by what the gods like and mutually consent. Lastly, Euthyphro tells Socrates that â€Å"I would certainly say that the pious is what all the gods love, and the opposite, what all the gods hate, is the impious.† (9e). Therefore, piety is what lies within the bounds of actions the god’s love and those that the god’s hate, become automatically unholy. Socra tes refutes Euthyphro’s definitions at each stage by providing elaborate counter arguments of his own. To Euthyphro’s first definition that holiness is punishing people who go against religion, Socrates says that this is a definition that excludes a variety of holy things that have nothing to do with persecuting blasphemous people and thus an incomplete definition that doesn’t hold on various counts. To Euthyphro’s second definition that holy things are those that are approved by the gods, Socrates says that this definition is also flawed because the gods are often fighting and there is seldom a time they all agree on one thing, thus no deed is holy according to this definition. He says â€Å"Then according to your argument, my good Euthyphro, different gods consider different things to be just, beautiful, ugly, good, and bad† (7e) and that â€Å"The same things then are loved by the gods and hated by the gods, and would be both god-loved and god- hated†¦ And the same things would be both pious and impious, accord ­ing to this argument?† (8) Euthyphro is disgruntled but has no choice but to agree with Socrates. Lastly, Socrates refutes Euthyphro’s statement by asking him to consider an important statement â€Å"Consider this: Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?† (10) and he asks Euthyphro to run a parallel comparison between the preceding statement and the fact that â€Å"that which is being carried is being carried because someone

Discovering Cultural Models from the Analysis of Discourse Essay

Discovering Cultural Models from the Analysis of Discourse - Essay Example Members of any given culture create chunks of meaning, like the above, and use them in discourse. Finding, identifying and describing these cultural â€Å"chunks† is the purview of the ethnographer. Quinn searched for metaphors to identify cultural chunks. This eliminated a lot of processing, because almost all the sentences which contain metaphors have cultural models. Quinn used the same information in the models to verify the model. That is, the causal relationship between the model and its concepts will verify that it is a cultural model. To confirm this one only needs to talk with two or more informant about the model and verify that they use it in the same way and understand that it contains the same causal relationship and concepts. For example, saying that the bride could not wear white in the twentieth century western English speaking world meant that a woman had been married before or was not a virgin. People today still understand this concept, even though the signi ficance has vanished. Further, discourse transcripts can be used to identify the cultural models by identifying the causal relationship to the concepts. So a person using the previous phrase can be assumed to be a member of a culture which uses or used this model. Verifying requires that all alternatives be eliminated. Quinn uses the example of a watch in a box, which can be identified by opening the box and looking. Shaking the box is not enough, because it could be something else. However, if one could hear the ticking by placing the ear on the box, one might assume it is a watch quite safely, using the strong probability. Of course this only works with a watch which ticks. However, one should then corroborate it by looking in the box, or asking the person who has looked or who put it there if it is a watch. The most basic linguistic concepts seem to be universal: ideas like want, need, see, hear, think, know and feel.

Cultural Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Cultural Assessment - Essay Example Taking the stance of the security personnel, when a terrorist event occurs, the following response procedure should be applied, to wit: â€Å"four key actions typically occur in support of a response :( 1) gain and maintain situational awareness; (2) activate and deploy key resources and capabilities; (3) effectively coordinate response actions; then, as the situation permits, (4) demobilize.† (USDNS, 2008, 32) When reporting the incident, call 9-1-1 in times of disasters especially when it poses a threat to human life and to the property. All calls will require: (1) name of caller; (2) telephone number for call-backs at the scene or facility; (3) have local officials been notified of incident – Fire, Police, Sheriff; and (4) date, time and location of the incident. (Emergency Response) In addition, the security personnel and/or management of the subway should inform the National Response Center, the State Emergency Response Commissions and Local Emergency Planning Committees. Fire departments must also be notified. The following telephone numbers should always be ready and all personnel should be advised of these numbers in cases of emergency: MOST IMPORTANT TELEPHONE NUMBERS: EPCRA HOTLINE 1-(800) 424-9346 and NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER 1-800-424-8802. The scope and nature of the terrorist event would dictate the response actions that should be immediately implemented by the local government unit closest to the incident. The following response actions, especially of the media and local government unit, are generally expected: â€Å"(1) Warning the public and providing accessible emergency public information. (2) Implementing evacuation and sheltering plans that include provisions for special needs populations and household pets. (3) Sheltering evacuees in pre-identified, physically accessible shelters and providing food, water, and other necessities to meet the needs of all people, including persons with disabilities and other special needs. (4)

Company profile Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Company profile - Coursework Example This individual would be old enough to own a credit card that is mandatory for making the purchases and is adventurous to try out new products/services because these make up most of the discounted offers. Groupons’ success so far Groupon.com has carved out a unique market space, considering that it offers diverse products and services, which differentiates it from traditional retailers: both brick-and-mortar and pure-play. Its major strengths are its brand as the trailblazer, its huge market presence, and its large financial backing of about US$ 1.2 billion. Groupon’s greatest opportunity is in the ease with which it can extend its service to more cities throughout the world. In fact, the company is currently leveraging its brand by extending its offering to willing collaborators through its Groupon Affiliate Program. The macro-environmental climate appears favorable for Groupon.com. The possible difficulties that it may have encountered due to political, legal, social, cultural and technological issues have for a greater part been addressed by other major online retailers such as Amazon.com and E-bay. Secondly, the fact that the world is emerging from an economic recession, consumers are more keen to watch on their expenses and as such it would not be foolhardy to anticipate an increased market for coupon / discount / bargain shoppers who would appreciate Groupon’s value proposition. However, as Gans (2) points out, Groupon’s prospects for long-term success are not guaranteed. Groupon’s unsecure future Groupon.com’s success has spawned numerous clones across the globe which Gans (2) estimates to be 400 competitors so far. The organization’s greatest weakness is that its business model is easy to replicate and even perfect. This makes Groupon’s first-mover competitive advantage difficult to sustain. Moreover, the low barriers to entry may make it tempting for some of the company’s suppliers to c ontemplate integrating forwards. We cannot also neglect the threat posed by the big Internet companies such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon that have the resources necessary to acquire rival coupon companies and enter the industry. One of Groupon’s major strategic blunders was not to have taken the purported $6 billion bid from Google when it had the chance (Gans 2). Other than its leadership in having a big solid base of accounts, every other aspect of Groupon’s business is easily replicable. Furthermore, the company’s US$ 1.2 billion current financial base is meager in comparison to, say, Facebook or Amazon, if they decided to acquire one of Groupon’s rivals and enter this new industry. The coupon industry is at a point where the early Internet companies where before the shakeout in the early 1990s. Groupon’s rejection of the Google offer could be viewed as a strategic blunder because Groupon.com could have utilized not only the cash injection but other resources available to Google to explore, discover and build a sustainable competitive advantage. Groupon.com’s current strategy may not be able to ensure that the organization retains its current industry leadership status. For starters, with 400 competitors, most of who are beginning to focus on niches such as city or through their offerings, consumer power continues to increase. Moreover, the information-rich Internet gives customers an edge when it boils down to selecting a coupon

AIIB Assignment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

AIIB Assignment - Coursework Example us adviser ok then agreement ok If able to start work, doing the things in the job seeker’s agreement and looking for job then meeting Job Centre Plus career adviser ok If attending a restart course or attending job interviews then looking for job ok. Here below is And/Or to represent the reasoning the system may go through in order to arrive at a decision about the user's entitlement to the benefit Abstract The society plus the industry at large are getting knowledge oriented and they do rely upon the decision made by different experts. Introduction of a knowledge based system presents us with an expert on demand available at any time and in any place and is able to process information within the shortest time possible. (Tuthhill, S and Levy, 1991)The step to introduce such a system greatly promotes consistency and gives the intended usershighnction at a relatively higher level. The knowledge based approach takes into consideration the varied techniques and methodologies for re-use and capture of process and product engineering knowledge. This process is intended to reduce the cost plus time taken during software production, which is in real sense attained through the automation of every repetitive design activity whilst we capture, retain and re-use design knowledge. This paper examines the procedures of selecting a suitable design approach for a prototype of a system that will automate the processes involved in checking and validating the eligibility of the persons entitle to job seekers allowance. It justifies the need for using a knowledge based approach during the software development process, accesses the possible advantages associated with this given design choice and gives suggestion on the extra steps to be taken during the approach to ensure that it remains economically feasible. Introduction Expert systems are the system types intended to solve real life problems that would usually require some specialized human effort like a real estate cons ultant or a doctor. Prior to building an expert system, there is a need that the relevant knowledge be extracted from the given human expert. Such knowledge is based on important rules of thumb rather than the absolute uncertainties. A knowledge engineer has the duty of extracting such type of knowledge then using the same to build a knowledge base. The building of an expert system has lower chances of being successful when performed for the first time for the reason that the expert finds it hard expressing with preciseness what rules and knowledge they use in solving a problem. (Benefits and Risks of Knowledge Based Systems, 2004)The knowledge based design approach never follows the conventional method because of the complexity of the human knowledge. Knowledge elicitation has been never easy and turns to be more challenging in case the exercise entails some uncertainties. This method entails an understanding of expert system design plus the psychology associated with knowledge gat hering. The skills involved include conducting interviews with the experts and assembling the components of a

Cultural Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Cultural Assessment - Essay Example Taking the stance of the security personnel, when a terrorist event occurs, the following response procedure should be applied, to wit: â€Å"four key actions typically occur in support of a response :( 1) gain and maintain situational awareness; (2) activate and deploy key resources and capabilities; (3) effectively coordinate response actions; then, as the situation permits, (4) demobilize.† (USDNS, 2008, 32) When reporting the incident, call 9-1-1 in times of disasters especially when it poses a threat to human life and to the property. All calls will require: (1) name of caller; (2) telephone number for call-backs at the scene or facility; (3) have local officials been notified of incident – Fire, Police, Sheriff; and (4) date, time and location of the incident. (Emergency Response) In addition, the security personnel and/or management of the subway should inform the National Response Center, the State Emergency Response Commissions and Local Emergency Planning Committees. Fire departments must also be notified. The following telephone numbers should always be ready and all personnel should be advised of these numbers in cases of emergency: MOST IMPORTANT TELEPHONE NUMBERS: EPCRA HOTLINE 1-(800) 424-9346 and NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER 1-800-424-8802. The scope and nature of the terrorist event would dictate the response actions that should be immediately implemented by the local government unit closest to the incident. The following response actions, especially of the media and local government unit, are generally expected: â€Å"(1) Warning the public and providing accessible emergency public information. (2) Implementing evacuation and sheltering plans that include provisions for special needs populations and household pets. (3) Sheltering evacuees in pre-identified, physically accessible shelters and providing food, water, and other necessities to meet the needs of all people, including persons with disabilities and other special needs. (4)

AIIB Assignment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

AIIB Assignment - Coursework Example us adviser ok then agreement ok If able to start work, doing the things in the job seeker’s agreement and looking for job then meeting Job Centre Plus career adviser ok If attending a restart course or attending job interviews then looking for job ok. Here below is And/Or to represent the reasoning the system may go through in order to arrive at a decision about the user's entitlement to the benefit Abstract The society plus the industry at large are getting knowledge oriented and they do rely upon the decision made by different experts. Introduction of a knowledge based system presents us with an expert on demand available at any time and in any place and is able to process information within the shortest time possible. (Tuthhill, S and Levy, 1991)The step to introduce such a system greatly promotes consistency and gives the intended usershighnction at a relatively higher level. The knowledge based approach takes into consideration the varied techniques and methodologies for re-use and capture of process and product engineering knowledge. This process is intended to reduce the cost plus time taken during software production, which is in real sense attained through the automation of every repetitive design activity whilst we capture, retain and re-use design knowledge. This paper examines the procedures of selecting a suitable design approach for a prototype of a system that will automate the processes involved in checking and validating the eligibility of the persons entitle to job seekers allowance. It justifies the need for using a knowledge based approach during the software development process, accesses the possible advantages associated with this given design choice and gives suggestion on the extra steps to be taken during the approach to ensure that it remains economically feasible. Introduction Expert systems are the system types intended to solve real life problems that would usually require some specialized human effort like a real estate cons ultant or a doctor. Prior to building an expert system, there is a need that the relevant knowledge be extracted from the given human expert. Such knowledge is based on important rules of thumb rather than the absolute uncertainties. A knowledge engineer has the duty of extracting such type of knowledge then using the same to build a knowledge base. The building of an expert system has lower chances of being successful when performed for the first time for the reason that the expert finds it hard expressing with preciseness what rules and knowledge they use in solving a problem. (Benefits and Risks of Knowledge Based Systems, 2004)The knowledge based design approach never follows the conventional method because of the complexity of the human knowledge. Knowledge elicitation has been never easy and turns to be more challenging in case the exercise entails some uncertainties. This method entails an understanding of expert system design plus the psychology associated with knowledge gat hering. The skills involved include conducting interviews with the experts and assembling the components of a